


On Dating in the 21st Century

by seekingsquake



Series: My Family, My Friends [7]
Category: She-Hulk, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 07:32:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3802096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekingsquake/pseuds/seekingsquake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She makes herself toast and asks him to the aquarium. He thinks she means as part of a group. He's wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Dating in the 21st Century

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: since you've been hinting at it, some Steve/Jen. 
> 
> All characters are property of Marvel. I don't own a thing.  
> Please do not repost or reupload this piece anywhere without consent. If you ask, I'm sure we can work something out :]

They go out together a lot, as a group. Steve and Jen and Bruce and Tony. Steve and Jen and Bruce and Thor. Steve and Jen and Bruce. And every time they do, he can’t help but notice the way that random guys on the street or in the restaurant or store will look at her. He knows that the only reason she’s never approached is because she’s got multiple men that are her friends hovering around her. He knows that when she goes out alone, or goes out with Nat or Pepper or both, she gets approached a lot. 

It’s not surprising, really, because she’s beautiful and obviously outgoing and friendly. 

He watches as Jen and Bruce make fun of the guys that eye her like she’s some sort of trophy or piece of meat, smiles when Bruce does a spot on impression under his breath, only loud enough for the three of them to hear, smiles when Jen bats her eyelashes at a guy who was ogling her before bursting into a fit of giggles. 

He knows how protective Bruce is of Jen, has heard all the stories from when they were kids and she was getting bullied, all the stories of how Bruce drove down to Boston to fend off the crazy ex-boyfriend, all the jokes about him being her attack dog, her brother-cousin, her best friend. And Bruce is his friend too, a really good one at that. Somebody he can turn to with his anxieties and confusions, somebody who never teases him too seriously or condescends down to him or idolizes him. 

A lot of things have changed since the time Steve was looking to date anyone, but some things are still the same. He can practically hear Bucky’s voice saying, “Your friends’ sisters are a no go, Stevie. ‘Member that, okay? No sisters.” From what he’s seen in today’s movies and TV shows, from what he’s heard from other guys’ stories at bars, it looks like that’s still the same. No sisters.

So when Jen pops in to his suite, starts doing up some toast for herself and asking, “You wanna to the aquarium? They’ve got a new exhibit thing going on right now. About whales,” he figures she’s asking if he wants to join her and Bruce, or her and Bruce and Tony, or her and Bruce and Thor. So he agrees, she finishes her toast, and he tells her he’ll meet her in the Tower lobby after he showers up.  

When he gets there, she’s the only one waiting. When he asks about Bruce all she says is, “He doesn’t care for whales,” before she drags him out.

They have a good time together. He likes the jellyfish and she likes  _everything_. She buys him a ball cap at the gift shop, so he buys her key chain that triples as a magnet and a bottle opener. They stop for a late lunch on the way home, and it’s over sandwiches that she leans over the little cafe table and plants a kiss on the very corner of his mouth. 

He’s torn because he  _likes_  her. He likes her so much, and every time she lets him know more of her he likes all the things he learns. She’s kind and forgiving and fierce. She’s passionate about the law, human rights, standing up for people who can’t stand up for themselves. She’s relaxed and optimistic and funny. She’s smart. She cultivates her friendships carefully. She likes to take risks, try new things, have a good time. She’s beautiful. He really likes her.

But.

No sisters. 

She says, “Did I cross a line? We can pretend that I didn’t just do that and that I didn’t hope that this could be a date. It’s okay.” She smiles, laughs a little, looks so insecure. 

He holds her hand for the rest of the afternoon, tries not to worry too much about his sweaty palms or the way his sentences trail off sometimes if he looks her in the eye too long. Buys them ice cream from a cart and laughs at her pout after she accidentally drops hers. When they finally make it back to the Tower she kisses his cheek before she gets off the elevator on her floor, and he has to fight to not touch where her lips pressed against his skin as he rides the rest of the way, not to his own floor, but to Bruce’s.

The first thing he says is, “Jen and I went on a date,” and he’s nervous when Bruce looks up from his tablet at raises an eye brow.

“I know.”

“That’s okay with you?”

Bruce snorts, then puts down the tablet and motions for Steve to sit. He says, “She’s not my property, Steve. She can go on dates with whoever she wants to, and you don’t have to ask me if you want to go out with her. She doesn’t belong to me, or to anyone. And neither do you. And you’re both adults.”

“No, I know that. But…,”

Bruce sighs this time, rubs the bridge of his nose. “Why am I on high alert when it comes to her and strangers, but I’m letting it go when it’s you? Steve. I don’t… I don’t trust very many people. It’s hard for me to. I don’t think I ever really learned how to, not properly. And. Men have hurt all the women that I care about. So yeah, I get defensive when she dates. I shouldn’t, because as I said, she’s an adult and can do whatever she wants to, and it’s got literally nothing to do with me. 

“But Steve. I trust you. I  _know_  that you’re a good guy. I know that you’re not going to force her into anything she doesn’t want, I know that you’d never use your body against her in any way, and I know that you respect her. I trust you. So no, you don’t need to check with me if you want to take her out and no, I’m not giving you a shovel talk. We’re friends. I trust all my friends, Steve. That’s why I don’t have very many of them, and that’s why she could date every single one of them, all at the same time if she wanted, and I wouldn’t be concerned.”

Steve sits with that for a long moment before he lets himself nod and feel the tension seep out of his shoulders. And then he asks, “How did you know we went on a date?”

Bruce laughs. “She asked me if she could ask you out! I don’t know why, because this isn’t high school and I’m not her damn father, but she asked me. Something about brother’s friends being ‘off limit’? I don’t know.”

He sticks around for a while longer, the two of them just hanging out, but Steve doesn’t stop smiling, doesn’t stop thinking about Jen wanting to ask him on a date. He figures he can ask her back tomorrow or something. Take her for dinner somewhere casual, walk Central Park. Maybe let her kiss him on the lips next time. He’d like that. He’d really like that.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt by werevampiwolf


End file.
